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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

Our church is "traditional" - big pipe organ and Steinway grand in the sanctuary. The last several years, we've been holding a contemporary service in the fellowship hall on Sunday afternoons, with a "pickup band" playing modern praise music. Attendance has grown to around 100-150 per week.

The only piano in the room is an old door stop of a spinet. I despise the thing. There are folks, including both of my daughters, who would add a lot to the music if they had a digital instrument to play. Heck, I'd even play if push came to shove.

Here's my question. What would you suggest that we look at if we were looking for a relatively portable instrument that could both be played "stand alone" by people who just flipped the on-off switch and be wired through a mixer and speakers for use with the combo. I want it to be more or less idiot-proof, because a lot of well meaning idiots will fool around with it over time. It doesn't need to have 3000 "voices," but some decent variety would be nice. I'd like to keep the cost down to $2 or 3,000, because I'd like to raise this money privately and just give the piano to church.

Wdot, can you say a little more about what "relatively portable" means in your situation? I'm trying to figure out if you'd want a console, such as the DP990. An instrument like that could be left out in the Fellowship Hall at all times. Someone could open it quickly and start playing "Happy Birthday" during coffee hour. Two people could wheel it down the hall to another room as needed.

On the other hand, if you want to be able to take the DP to another floor or out of the building, you'd want a slab piano, such as the FP-7. Many slab pianos do have wooden stands and pedal units available, making them more like consoles. But you can more-or-less easily unscrew the piano from the stand for moving.

Since you want the capacity for standalone use, you need to consider that you can get much more powerful speakers in a true console piano. And some slab/stage pianos have no speakers at all.

In your price range, there are many fine offerings from the major DP brands. I'd suggest that you skim through the online Piang Buyer (link to the right).

BTW, in your price range nearly all DP's will have a true Line Out, not just a Headphone jack, but be sure to check on that feature.

wdot, susanmusic's post is pointing you at considering whether a "stage" piano or a "home" piano would better suit your needs. Home pianos have pedals built into their cabinets and IMO would be better suited to your concern for a DP being idiot proof - the only thing to plug in or out is the power cord (and their included speakers will serve as monitor speakers for the player).

... I'd like to keep the cost down to $2 or 3,000, because I'd like to raise this money privately and just give the piano to church....

Your budget is more than enough to buy a quality piano. You have to decide if you like the home type console style or the stage type.

The Roland stage pianos are built like tanks with thick metal cases and chassis. They are designed to take physical abuse of being transported on a daily basis. These will also have connectors you might like if you already have a pro-audio sound system, things like XLR balanced line out that you don't find on the home DPs

Home pianos have a cases made of plastic laminate over particle board. They can be moved but weight in typically at abut 115 pounds and particle board is not super strong. But they work quite well if left in one place. They are designed to be left in a typical living room for about a decade between moves.

If theft might be an issue, the big home DPs might be a little harder for some one to cart off, they'd either need a truck or some time with a screw driver to take it apart. A stage piano is designed to be portable.

Either way you could afford te top-line Roland like the RD700GX and have change left over. This and the FP types have a big LCD panel so they are easy to use, no need to enter function codes and so on, basically select the sound and setting from a menu that is run off a large control wheel.

I think with your budget a Roland FP-7 would fit the bill nicely! It has enough voices to do anything you want, 128 notes polyphony, great action and superb sound. Pretty easy operation too. If I could afford one, that's what I would get. Really nice for contemporary Christian and praise music!

I think with your budget a Roland FP-7 would fit the bill nicely! It has enough voices to do anything you want, 128 notes polyphony, great action and superb sound. Pretty easy operation too. If I could afford one, that's what I would get. Really nice for contemporary Christian and praise music!

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. While I'm sure "the kids" would like something more portable, I think there's something to be said for a console that looks like a piece of furniture. This room is used for a lot of different events, including wedding receptions, so a nice ebony-looking PSO (piano shaped object) would fit right in. Plus, I think people would be less likely to move the instrument unnecessarily.

I'll take a hard look at the upper end Rolands. I an acoustic guy (I just stopped banging away on my Steinway for the night at the prompting of the family), but I've come to recognize the value of digitals during my accompanying forays in recent years.

wdot, I believe any of the Yamaha, Roland, or KAWAI console digital pianos will be suitable for the church's needs.

My recommendation would be the Yamaha CLP-340, Roland HP-203, or KAWAI CN32.You may also wish to look into the KAWAI CA61 or CA51 models, which include a 'Hymn Player' feature consisting of 88 songs of the faith.

On your budget a Roland RD700GX .... its the real deal and very simple to operate ...

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"I'm still an idiot and I'm still in love" - Blue Sofa - The Plugz 1981 (Tito Larriva) Disclosure : I am professionally associated with Arturia but my sentiments are my own only.